The cyclist Mark Cavendish does not rate himself as merely an elite sprinter. Oh, no. In multiple interviews, even in his autobiography (published by age 26), Cavendish stakes his claim as the best sprinter alive, the fastest man on two wheels, perhaps in the history of cycling.

Cavendish is the current road cycling world champion, the reigning BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the athlete who won handily the test run of the Olympic road race circuit on a course that seems designed to favor him at the London Games.

Raised on the Isle of Man, for which he later earned the nickname the Manx Missile from the British press corps, Cavendish received a mountain bike for his 13th birthday and won the first race he entered. He later befriended the Scottish professional David Millar and gave up his day job: working in a bank.

Cavendish trained in the British Olympic Academy program, where he became a World Games and Commonwealth Games champion. He was, he is, the epitome of a sprinter, the line between confidence and arrogant not only fluid, but blurred. His first road sprinting season came in 2007 when, for T-Mobile, he notched 11 wins, among the most successful professional debuts in European road racing.

Versatile, Cavendish garnered 15 Tour de France stage victories from 2008 to 2010. He did so for low pay based on a bad long-term contract with the High Road team, which was based in the United States. In 2011, he moved to British Sky, which paid a salary commensurate to the fastest man in cycling. Cavendish won the green sprinter’s jersey at the Tour de France and the rainbow jersey at the world championships in Denmark.

He now holds 20 stage victories in the Tour de France, good for a share of sixth all time.

Most sprinters are tall and brawny, or that is at least the prototypical build. Cavendish is short by those standards (he is 5 feet 9 inches). and only somewhat built. He is not the strongest rider on the bike, but he may be the most aerodynamic. Early into his career, he worked with scientists at the British Cycling Federation to develop his style: stretched downward, body low, most of his weight over the front wheels.

The autobiography, “Boy Racer,” published in June 2009, covered his career to date. Cavendish said he wanted to better explain himself. The gist of it, though, was clear.